The European Commission and the United States have agreed on a new framework for transatlantic data flows: the EU-US Privacy Shield.
Today, the College of Commissioners approved the political agreement reached and has mandated Vice-President Ansip and Commissioner Jourová to prepare the necessary steps to put in place the new arrangement. It claims this new framework will protect the fundamental rights of Europeans where their data is transferred to the United States and ensure legal certainty for businesses.
While this new EU-US Privacy Shield demands stronger obligations, safeguards and transparency of data, leaders must consider that using techniques such as encryption will ensure their information is protected, regardless of its location. Robust encryption ensures the safety and security of data wherever it is in the world, allowing organisations to leverage cloud-based infrastructures while ensuring the safety of their sensitive data.
Crucial to this encryption process is effective key management. By ensuring they keep their 'keys' on premise - or by allowing them to ‘bring their own keys’ stored safely in a hardware security module (HSM) - organisations hosting protected data in the cloud will be able to take control of their data, no longer needing to worry about external decisions influencing their policies.